The Bouncing Souls are one of the oldest punk rock bands, having survived over 20 years together as a band.

The Bouncing Souls have been around for 24 + years, and they are still able to bring in a youthful energetic crowd. Since the 2012 Olympics are going on now, I would like to say if there was a gold medal for longest running Pop Punk band still touring and releasing albums, the Bouncing Souls would bring home the gold for all of New Jersey.

The Bouncing Souls is less of a Punk band from the days of yore, they are an institution. Greg Attonito has always and have been a charming lead singer. Pete Steinkopf with thrashing guitar riffs. Bryan Kienlen keeping the bass rhythm smooth. Michael McDermott on drums keeping the tempo in check. These New Jersey punk rockers are as tight as ever.

Playing on the stage is some tube T.V.s playing random images accompanying the songs. Those random images include old 80's films like The Breakfast Club, John Cusack films, to one of my all time favorite films BMX Bandits.

Playing songs is a mix from their legacy. Old favorites mixed with new material. You can tell that the audience reacts more favorably to the old mainstays. Encores include "Private Radio," "No Regrets," and "Gone." Also during the encore the backdrop changes which was a surprise to me.

The Bouncing Souls have been around long enough that they know what the audience wants. I have been a fan of the Bouncing Souls from the late 90's, and I was expecting not to know any of the songs. That made me a TRUE BELIEVER.

Opening was the Smoking Popes, Merzingers, and Luther. Great solid punk bands with 3 cord progression that makes me wish for the early days of punk. It's great that the Bouncing Souls takes on tour with them some up and coming bands. Just to show them the ropes and hopefully learn from them from their 24 plus years of touring and releasing albums. Punk's not dead; the future is in the hands of this next generation.

The Bouncing Souls are one of the oldest punk rock bands, having survived over 20 years together as a band. My theory is that most punk bands starts off really young … and if they're successful, surviving twenty years is really nothing.

Other punk-ish bands in the 20+ year club includes Green Day (who just announced three albums!), Bad Religion (these guys are legendary, I love Greg Graffin - the smartest man in punk), Social Distortion (I saw these guys over 20 years ago!), Less than Jake, Blink 182, Rise Against, New Found Glory. Plus don't forget the acronym of doom: MXPX, CKY, AFI, and NOFX!

The band just released their ninth studio album, Comet, via Rise Records (in conjunction with the band's own label, Chunksaah Records), in June, and they're currently on tour this summer with The Menzingers and Luther.

Did you know that Grammy and Brit award-winner Joss Stone has her own record label called Stone'd Records? She will be releasing The Soul Sessions Volume 2 this July 23rd, 2012, in collaboration with her first record label, S-Curve Records.

The Soul Sessions Volume 2 is the follow up to Stone's five million selling debut album, The Soul Sessions. If you are one of the five million who own the first album, chances are The Soul Sessions Volume 2 will more or less follow the same winning formula.

Stone commented on the second volume: "I really had fun revisiting The Soul Sessions idea and I’m really pleased with the results. I’ve committed long term to my label Stone’d Records, but it felt right to team up with Steve and S-Curve again for this release. I think there are some great songs on the album and I loved performing them with such brilliant musicians - so I hope people enjoy it."

The Jesus and Mary Chain: Barbed Wire Kisses by Zoë Howe (St Martin's Press)
The Scottish shoegazing / alternative band The Jesus and Mary Chain has a new book written by Zoë Howe called The Jesus and Mary Chain: Barbed Wire Kisses (named after their 1999 album) out today on St Martin's Press.

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer (Grand Central Publishing)
With this upcoming sold out show at the Cedar Cultural Center on Sunday, November 16th, I see that it is essentially a book signing tour for her new book The Art of Asking.... however, knowing Palmer, I am pretty there will be some singing/dancing involved, as well as an appearance from Neil Gaiman and other special guests.

Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones by Paul Trynka (Viking)
The vast majority of the book is focused on Brian Jones and the early days of the Rolling Stones, like the book title suggest, but like many of you, I was more interested in his death - which happened less than a month after he was walked away from the band.

A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man by Holly George-Warren (Viking)
Fans searching for an account of the life of enigmatic and underappreciated singer/songwriter Alex Chilton need look no further; March 24th marks the release of “A Man Called Destruction” by Holly George-Warren, a thorough and highly enjoyable document of Chilton’s life and career.

Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen (Viking)
Eminent Hipsters is the new memoir by Donald Fagen, best known as the singer/songwriter of 70's jazz/rock band, Steely Dan.
I can't hear "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" without instantly being transported back to childhood memories of riding in the way, way back of my parent's station wagon, with the ol' Steely Dan cassette playing in the woodgrain dashboard.

Autobiography by Morrissey (Penguin Classics)
As a Morrissey fan, I should tell you that this is the first time Morrissey will tell his story in his own words. Previously official biography Landscapes of the Mind by David Bret was, how shall I say it, boring.

Stone Roses: War and Peace by Simon Spence (St. Martin's Griffin)
When I started reading War and Peace, I quickly realized how very little I knew about the Stone Roses. Most of my recollections of the band were through the NME, Melody Maker, and Select Magazines, which does not really paint a picture of how it was back then.

2015:
Since Select Magazine went away in 2000, Uncut Magazine took over as my favorite music magazine. In their latest issue, which came out in the stores in the UK this week (January 27th), they featured the 30th Anniversary of Meat is Murder with a The Smiths cover.